Today's question is about lighting. Lesley wrote in and she is building a new house, and she is wondering about lighting, whether or not there is much of a difference between recessed lights and surface mounted lights, and how she should design with lamps in mind as well.
This is a very interesting question, because lighting is a great passion of mine. It becomes pretty clear as well if you really think about each of the different types of fixtures. Recessed lights basically will shine light onto the floor, or any horizontal surface, but will put almost no light onto walls or other vertical surfaces. It is that light, (on the walls) that helps you perceive depth in a space. To help balance out the light I like to mix in some surface fixtures, whether they be hanging on the ceiling, or mounted on the wall (sconces). The combination of these two types of light will provide a nice visual texture to the space and helps to bring it alive.
In the image above, you can see where I have combined recessed light (used to light the floor) and surface light (used to light peoples faces as they come to the door), to create a vibrant space.
I also have introduced a table lamp a well to create a brighter area at the table, which helps to draw attention to it, and to help enhance the sense of entry.
One final word, be sure to use dimmers as much as possible and also put everything on different circuits whenever possible. You want to be able to raise and lower the levels of each light in relation to each other, depending on the situation.
Lesley, good luck with your project, I hope this helps.
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